Cleveland State U. Reverses Stand; Will Not Begin Term on Yom Kippur

Reversing an earlier decision by administrators at Cleveland State University , the school’s Board of Trustees has agreed to a request by the local Jewish Community Federation to postpone the opening of the Fall term by one day in order not to conflict with Yom Kippur, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency learned today. The request to change the opening date from Sept. 29 to Sept. 30 was originally denied by University administrators who maintained that State universities can respond only to state and national holidays. A University spokesman told Edward Rosen that of the Federation that if the school agreed to Jewish demands, it would have to yield on similar demands by other religious groups. The Federation appealed the decision to the Board of Trustees, Rosenthal told the JTA.

Last week the Board agreed to the proposed change Rosenthal said the administrators’ arguments against postponing the start of the semester apparently “did not carry any weight” with the Trustees. He said the school” will not be deluged by other groups ” with similar requests and added that other universities in the state had already cooperated with the Jewish student community on this issue, Ohio State University changed its opening date to Sept., So and the University of Cincinnati postponed the beginning of registration to Sept. 24. so as not to conflict with Rosh Hashanah, Sept. 20-21. Kent State University added an extra day of registration and scheduled its starting date for Sept. 30.

But two other universities in Ohio have thus far indicated no plans to adjust openings or registration dates which conflict with the High Holidays. Ohio University in Athens, is scheduled to begin registering its students on Sept. 20. the first day of Rosh Hashanah, and Miami University plans to open the Fall term on the second day of the holiday. Rosenthal said the Cleveland Federation intends to focus its efforts on Ohio University. which is in a small city without a central Jewish organization to press the issue, Dayton’s Federation has already sought a change in the opening date at nearby Miami U. according to Rosenthal. He said the Jewish community there will be contacted in the hope that it will be able to change Miami’s academic calendar.